Helicopter sling load electrical adapter

ABSTRACT

A means for electrically connecting the electrical system of a load means to the electrical power supply of a lifting means.

United States Paten Becker et al.

1 1 3,720,902 1March 13, 1973 HELICOPTER SLING LOAD ELECTRICAL ADAPTER Inventors: Charles W. Beeker, Baltimore; Royale R. Crabtree, Towson, both of Md.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC.

Aug. 11, 1971 Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.: 170,865

Related U.S. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 34,291, May 4, 1970, Pat. No. 3,647,170.

US. Cl ..339/2 R, 339/95 R, 339/119 R, 339/147 R Int. Cl. ..H0lr 39/64 [58] Field of Search ..339/2, 9,11,119, 95, 278,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,808,555 6/1931 lshimaru ..339/95 R 2,933,651 4/1960 Legge ..339 11 x 2,981,917 4/1961 Glass ..339/9 R 3,120,403 2/1964 Molyan et a1. .294/78 X Primary ExaminerRichard E. Moore Attorney-Harry M. Saragovitz et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT A means for electrically connecting the electrical system of a load means to the electrical power supply of a lifting means.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures HELICOPTER SLING LOAD ELECTRICAL ADAPTER This application is a divisional application of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 34,291 filed May 4, 1970, now US Pat. No. 3,647,170 issued Mar. 7, 1972.

I DEDICATORY CLAUSE The invention described herein may be manufac-- .tured, used, and licensed by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

Our invention relates to a meansand method for electrically connecting a load electrical system to a lifting means electrical power supply.

The prior art means and methodology necessitated the connection of the load electrical system to the lifting means power supply during the lifting operation sequence, such as the connection of the electrical system of a chemical dispenser means to an aircraft power supply as disclosed in U. S. Pat. application Ser. No. 773,824 filed 6 Nov. 1968. Prior art means and method presented the problem that the electrical connection could not always be satisfactorily made during the lifting operation sequence which resulted in delay in the lifting operation and/or malfunction of the electrical system subsequent to the lifting operation due to a faulty electrical connection. Our invention was conceived and reduced to practice to overcome the aforementioned prior art problem.

The principal object of our invention is to provide a reliable and effective means for electrically connecting the electrical system of a load means to the electrical power supply of a lifting means.

u Another object of our invention is to provide a reliable and effective means to easily and rapidly electrically connect the electrical system of a load means to the electrical power supply of a lift means.

Other objects of our invention will be obvious or will appear from the specification hereinafter set forth.

FIG. 1 is a view showing the utility of our electrical connection means after the electrical system of a load means has been electrically connected to an electrical power supply of a lift means.

FIG. 2 is a view through 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing a hook means for a lift means, our electrical connector means to insert on the hook means, and a sling means to connect the load means to the lift means.

FIG. 4 is a view through 4-4 ofFIG. 6.

FIG. 1', by attaching a conventional sling member4, such as a nylon fabric sling, to a conventional load cargo cable 5, such as steel cable, on one end of the sling and to a conventional hook means 6, such as a steel hook, attached to the other end of the sling; the hook means being integral with any conventional lift means, not shown in the drawing, such as an aircraft,

helicopter for example, or other type of hoist. Conventional electrical leads 7 are connected to contacts 1 in the conventional manner, such as by soldering, at one end of the leads and tea male metallic snap fastener 8 in the conventional manner, such as by soldering or by solderless lugs, at the opposite end of the leads as shown in FIG. 6. Conventional electrical lead 9 is connected to a female snap fastener 10 in the conventional manner, such as by soldering or solderless lugs, at one end of the lead and to a conventionalelectrical plug connector 11 at the other end of the lead; plug 11 being provided to connect to a mating plug connector which is connected to the load electrical system, the load electrical system and mating plug not being shown in the drawing and not a part of our invention. Fasteners 8 and 10 are interchangeable and fixedly mounted on insulating material, such as nylon fabric, and plug 11 can be male or female, depending on the mating plug connector of the load electrical system. Insulating member 2 is removably connected to the inner surface of sling 4 by ,any conventional and convenient means, such as snap fabric fastener straps 23, straps with buckle fasteners, straps with metalsnap fasteners, etc.; as

FIG. 5 is a view of our electrical connector means to connect to a lift hook.

FIG. 6 is a-view of our electrical connector means to connect to the sling means shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a view of the terminal means for our connector means shown in FIG. 5.

Our invention as shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 will now be described in detail as follows. i f

Two metallic contacts 1, such as copper, are fixedly mounted on, a flexible electrically insulating member 2, such as nylon fabric, by any conventional method, such as a rolled edge clamping means, as shown in FIG. 6. Contacts 1 are separated from each other, withinthe skill of the art, a predetermined distance on insulating member 2 to suit a given application and so that contacts 2 will contact bus bars 3, as shown in FIG. 2, when the load, not shown in the drawing, is lifted, as shown in by snapping male snap connector 15 within female snap connector 16, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3; member 13 being manufactured to have symmetrical configuration to member 14. To remove adapter 12 from hook 6, members 13 and 14 are separated by placing the thumb and forefinger in finger holes 17, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, and pushing members 13 and 14 apart to disconnect connector 15 from connector 16. Leads 18 of the terminal means shown at 19 i'nFIG. 7 are connected to bus bars 3 in the conventional manner, such as by inserting the leads within slots in the bus bars and brazing the leads within theslots, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5. Conventional electrical. lead 20 is connected to terminal 19 at one end of the lead in the conventional manner, such as by soldering, and to a conventional electrical plug connector 21 at the other end of the lead by any conventional means, such as soldering; plug 21 being provided to electrically connect to the lift means conventional power supply, the power supply not being a part of our invention and not shown in the drawing. Plug 21 can be either male or female and is selected depending on the mating plug of the lift means power supply, and plug 21 is connected to the power supply prior to the lifting aperation sequence, either prior to or subsequent to the connection of adapter 12 to hook means 6. Slots 22 are provided in busbars 3 to assist in removing any corrosion which might build upon contacts I; the corrosion being removed as the load swings when suspended from the lift means.

To utilize our above described device, adapter 12 is inserted on hook 6; plug 21 is connected to the lift means power supply, AC or DC; hook means 6 is brought into position by a lift means over a load having cargo cables 5 attached thereto and inserted through sling 4 with our insulator member 2 attached thereto; sling 4 is inserted over hook 6 as shown in FIG. 1; the load is raised to be transported to a predetermined site by the lift means, the weight of the load causing a downward pull on sling 4 and bringing contact 1 into good electrical contact with bus bars 3 to connect the load electrical system which can be AC or DC to the lift means power supply; and when the load has reached the predetermined site, the load electrical system is ac- .tivated to perform a predetermined function, such as dispense material from a container means, by a conventional switching means locatedwithin or on the lift means; the switching means not being a part of our invention and not shown in the drawing.

It is obvious that other modifications can be made of our invention, and we desire to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An electrical adapter comprising a pair of symmetrical insulating members formed to a predetermined shape tofit the configuration of a hook means; a bus bar means fixedly mounted on the outer surface of each symmetrical insulating member at a predetermined location, the location being positioned to provide electrical contact with an electrical contact means upon suspension of a load means from a lift means integral with the hook means; a terminal means having a pair of leads integral therewith, the terminal means leads being electrically connected to the bus bar means; a plurality of slots formed in the bus bar means, said slots being provided to remove any corrosion from the electrical contact means; an electrical lead means electrically connected to the terminal means at one end of the lead means and electrically connected to an electrical plug connector at the other end of the lead means, the electrical plug connector being provided to electrically connect to a mating electrical plug connector integral with a power supply of the lift means; and means mounted in each symmetrical insulating member to secure the adapter on the hook means.

2. The adapter of claim 1 wherein the means to secure the adapter on the hook means is a pair of snap fasteners.

3. The adapter of claim 2 wherein a finger hole means is formed in each symmetrical insulating member, said finger hole means being provided to disconnect the snap fasteners. 

1. An electrical adapter comprising a pair of symmetrical insulating members formed to a predetermined shape to fit the configuration of a hook means; a bus bar means fixedly mounted on the outer surface of each symmetrical insulating member at a predetermined location, the location being positioned to provide electrical contact with an electrical contact means upon suspension of a load means from a lift means integral with the hook means; a terminal means having a pair of leads integral therewith, the terminal means leads being electrically connected to the bus bar means; a plurality of slots formed in the bus bar means, said slots being provided to remove any corrosion from the electrical contact means; an electrical lead means electrically connected to the terminal means at one end of the lead means and electrically connected to an electrical plug connector at the other end of the lead means, the electrical plug connector being provided to electrically connect to a mating electrical plug connector integral with a power supply of the lift means; and means mounted in each symmetrical insulating member to secure the adapter on the hook means.
 1. An electrical adapter comprising a pair of symmetrical insulating members formed to a predetermined shape to fit the configuration of a hook means; a bus bar means fixedly mounted on the outer surface of each symmetrical insulating member at a predetermined location, the location being positioned to provide electrical contact with an electrical contact means upon suspension of a load means from a lift means integral with the hook means; a terminal means having a pair of leads integral therewith, the terminal means leads being electrically connected to the bus bar means; a plurality of slots formed in the bus bar means, said slots being provided to remove any corrosion from the electrical contact means; an electrical lead means electrically connected to the terminal means at one end of the lead means and electrically connected to an electrical plug connector at the other end of the lead means, the electrical plug connector being provided to electrically connect to a mating electrical plug connector integral with a power supply of the lift means; and means mounted in each symmetrical insulating member to secure the adapter on the hook means.
 2. The adapter of claim 1 wherein the means to secure the adapter on the hook means is a pair of snap fasteners. 